


Owe Me One

by RobinsonsWereHere



Category: Psych
Genre: Gen, Hostage Situations, Light Angst, Ride or Die Friendship, i know the timeline doesn't fit, i wrote this after midnight okay?, karen and henry even more so, karen vick is so underrated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 15:02:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19871563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsonsWereHere/pseuds/RobinsonsWereHere
Summary: Six-year-old Shawn Spencer may well be the next victim of a string of kidnappings in Santa Barbara... but Henry's not going to be there to save him. He's been taken off the case, to prevent emotionally compromised officers, but Herb hadn't counted on his partner.





	Owe Me One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [myglassesaredirty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myglassesaredirty/gifts).



> after comparing Bones characters to Psych characters (in which Henry is Booth and Karen is Cam, to name a few) I wanted to write a fic where Karen put her life and/or job on the line to save Shawn because Henry asked her too. Knowledge of Bones is not necessary to read this fic :)

Henry is beyond stressed. They’ve been working a case with a child kidnapping ring for weeks now, but it’s recently escalated. Local Santa Barbara kids are going missing, and others are being ‘tagged’.

The basketball court of Shawn’s (and Trish’s, and Gus’) elementary school had been tagged with six hash marks. Six children from that school will be gone by the end of the week.

“Spencer, get in here,” calls Herb. Henry frowns and paces toward the office, Karen on his heels.

“Chief? Do you need something?”

Herb nods. “Spencer, you’re off the case.”

Henry blinks. “I’m what?”

Karen is a little quicker on the uptake. “His kid is in danger!”

“First of all, that’s exactly _why_ he’s off the case. Secondly, Dunlap, get out of my office- I didn’t ask you to be here and you need to be getting ready to help Carp solve this case.”

Karen’s jaw drops. “I have to work with _Jerry?”_

Henry folds his arms across his chest. “Why the hell are you taking me off this case?”

“Because you can’t be objective, Spencer! I’m done talking about this, I have to find a kidnapper before six more kids go missing. Spencer, Dunlap, for every second you spend in here starting now, ten bucks comes out of you Christmas bonus.”

They exit the room quickly.

\---

Henry goes home to his wife. _At least I’ll be there to pick Shawn up from school._ “Hey Mad, I’m home,” he calls.

“Henry!” She rushes into the room and hugs him tightly, then kisses him. “What are you doing here? I thought you had a tough case?”

“I did,” he confirms, nodding. “But because of the threat to Shawn’s school, Herb kicked me out. I think he pulled the same trick on Brett.”

Maddie purses her lips. “Well, you have to admit… if anything happens, you two might not be able to act as cops instead of fathers.”

Henry groans and runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I know. But I want to help.”

She kisses him again, slow and soft. “I know you do. That’s one of the reasons I love you.”

“How much time do we have until we have to get Shawn from school?”

“A few hours… why? Are you in need of some stress relief?”

Despite his lingering worry over the case, Henry chuckles. “You know me so well.”

\---

Karen curses when she arrives at the elementary school playground. In the area the cops have roped off, three masked men are holding six children hostage. Those six children include Burton Guster, Trish Connors, and Shawn Spencer.

She knows she shouldn’t, but it’s a hostage situation- nothing’s going to happen very fast. She texts Henry quickly- _hostage sit. 6 kids. Shawn is one_

She can’t wait around for a reply, but she does stick her phone in her pocket. Then, she joins the crowd of officers a few yards away from the kids. “What do they want?”

“An audience,” Jerry mutters, “and way too much money. They can’t get it unless someone really rich has a kid in that group.”

She squints. “Isn’t that the mayor’s daughter?”

“Oh, fuck.”

Seven and a half tense minutes later, Karen’s phone rings. It’s Henry; to avoid any inquisition from her coworkers, Karen steps out of the crowd to take the call.

_”Karen,”_ says Henry, sounding panicked. _”Karen, what’s going on? Are- are we close to saving them?”_

She presses her lips together. “Not by a long shot, Henry.” She doesn’t bother with apologies or reassurances. Neither of those will get Shawn free.

_”Maddie and I are on our way now. How- how long do we have?”_

Karen casts a nervous glance back at the group on the pavement. “Not as much time as we need.”

_”Karen…”_ for a few seconds, all she hears is Henry’s breathing. _”Karen, is there anything you can do? I know I’m asking you to break the rules, but… I wouldn’t if it wasn’t important.”_

She sighs. “I know, Henry. I’ll do what I can. See you in a bit.”

With that, she hangs up and marches straight up to the group of kids and kidnappers. She ignores the shouts of her coworkers and superiors, instead choosing to give her full attention to the criminals. “This is your last chance,” she warns, her hand resting on the butt of her gun. “Let them go.”

The man holding Shawn spits in her face. She decks him and grabs two kids before anyone else can even blink.

\---

Henry doesn’t even remind Maddie to stay in the car, instead focusing on rushing to the kerfuffle on the asphalt. Besides, he knows she won’t stay, anyway. He’s almost at the police tape when he hears a gunshot. By the time he pushes through the human- and plastic- barrier, he can see a blonde form on the ground. “Karen!”

She picks herself up, still shielding Shawn with her body. He sees her clutch at her ribs, but she’s wearing a bulletproof vest. It’s not a life-threatening injury. Nonetheless, he rushes to help her. “Take Shawn,” she insists, and he does, lifting his son even as he shephards two other kids from the chaos. There are other officers joining the fight now, so at least Karen will not be left alone to fend off the kidnappers. Henry makes it beyond the barricade and hands Shawn to Maddie before rushing back in to get the other three kids.

After everything, Henry holds his family close. They’re tucked between two cars in the parking lot, meaning that Jerry and Herb and others who’d like to yell at him won’t find him. But Karen does.

She finds them while Henry is holding Shawn close and kissing the top of his head, while Maddie is leaning into both of her boys, her arms wrapped around them. Henry looks up. “Karen,” he says hoarsely, “are you alright?”

“Just a little sore. How about you all?”

“We’re all good, thanks to you.” He looks down at Shawn. “Can you say thank you?”

Shawn lifts his head from Henry’s shoulder. “Thank you, Officer,” he mumbles.

Karen smiles and steps closer. “I’m just glad you’re alright, Shawn.”

Henry gives her a shaky smile. “We all are, Karen. Don’t mention it.”

In years to come, the line between friend and family will blur and sharpen, fade and be redrawn. But if you were to ask Henry when he felt as though Karen became closer than a friend to him, he would easily, without hesitation, point to that day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I enjoy comments and kudos!


End file.
